


A Love That Lasts

by JillyBeans_storycorner



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Daddy Danno, Danny is an amazing father, Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen, Mention of past relationships, One Shot, mention of Amblissa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-17
Updated: 2016-05-17
Packaged: 2018-06-08 22:29:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6876505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JillyBeans_storycorner/pseuds/JillyBeans_storycorner
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Danny has what he thinks will be a difficult conversation with Grace, but it turns into a lesson about life and love for both.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Love That Lasts

“How are your pancakes Monkey?” Danny asked as he watched with amusement as his daughter wolfed down her syrup drenched short-stack.

“Go-ahd” Grace mumbled around a mouthful and nodded. “Thanks for taking me to breakfast.” she said after swallowing.

“Well thank you for coming out with me.” Danny replied with a smile. He’d been thrilled to steal a quite moment away with his little girl. Between work, everything that was going on with Charlie, and Grace’s increasingly developing allergy to his presence, they hadn’t spent nearly enough time together in his eyes. She’s growing up so fast and he hates himself a little for having to ruin their father/daughter time with this.

“What’s wrong Danno?” Grace asked, eyeing him curiously over her plate.

“Nothing, I was just thinking about how fast you’re growing up. That’s all.”

“Danno.” she said poignantly, she had his number on this, she was smart kid. He may as well just accept that the older she got, the less he’d be able to hide from her. 

“All right.” Danny sighed, time to get this over with. “Grace, there’s something I have tell you.” 

Grace’s eyes widened. “What’s wrong?” she asked fearfully. “Is it Charlie?”

“No, no, baby, it’s nothing like that.” he was kicking himself for scaring her. “No, Charlie’s fine. Everything’s ok. No, Monkey, I just…I wanted to talk to you about Melissa.”

“What about her?” Grace asked, quirking her eyebrows suspiciously.

“Well, Monkey, I….Sometimes…..There’s no easy way to say it but, Grace, Melissa and I aren’t gonna be seeing each other anymore.”

“Oh.” Grace replied, relaxing back into her chair. “I’m sorry Daddy.”

“I’m sorry too.”

“Are you sad?” Grace asked, looking sympathetically at him.

“I don’t know Monkey, I guess I’m more….disappointed. I’d liked for things to have turned out differently, but sometimes these things just don’t work.”

He eyed Grace’s expression carefully, looking for her reaction, but the only thing that registered was sympathy, and maybe even a tiny bit of relief.

“Grace, are you ok with this?” Danny asked hesitantly.

“Yeah. I mean, I’m sorry for you, but…for a second I thought you were gonna say you were gonna ask her to marry you.” Grace mumbled, suddenly very interested in her fork.

“Would you have not liked it if I did?” 

Grace shrugged. “I don’t know. I would have been happy for you.”

“But-“

“I don’t know.”

“Grace.” Danny said seriously reaching across the table to take her hand. “Baby I want you to be honest with me, always, no matter how much you think it’s something I don’t wanna hear I do. Ok?”

“Honestly?” Grace hesitated. “I didn’t like her very much.”

“What?”

“I mean, she wasn’t mean, or anything, but, I don’t know I just didn’t like her. We didn’t really talk that much, or anything. I don’t know it was just kinda weird. I’m sorry Danno.”

“Grace why didn’t you tell me?” Danny asked heavily “I wouldn’t have never kept seeing someone who you didn’t like. We’re a package deal Monkey. Remember you’re-“

“The most important thing in my life and the second thing isn’t even close. I know.” Grace recited miserably. “That’s why I didn’t tell you. You’d have broken up with her and I didn’t want to be the reason you weren’t happy, again.”

“Grace how can you think that-“

“You broke up with Gabby because of me.” Grace interjected, her voice quivering with mounting emotion. “I heard you guys talking that night. You thought I was asleep, but I heard you come in and I wanted to come say hi, and I heard you say that you wanted to stay together, but you couldn’t because of me. And you were crying like you did the night Mom left you. I didn’t want to do that to you again…” 

Danny blinked several times, completely taken aback by what he was hearing. But the unshed tears in clinging to Grace’s lashes forced him up and out of his chair on instinct.

“Oh, Monkey, c’mere.” he said wrapping her up in a tight hug and kissing the top of her head. Grace for her part, seemed to forget that she was a cool pre-teen, and in the middle of a diner, and hugged him back in earnest.

“Baby, I don’t ever want you to think that I’m not happy because of you. You are the thing that makes me happiest in the world, as long as I have you I don’t need anything else.” he said gently to her.

“That’s not true though. I want you fall in love and have someone who makes you happy that way, like Aunt Kono and Uncle Adam. Everybody needs that kinda love Danno, you know it.”

“I know, Monkey, and I’ve had it. I had it with your mom. But Grace there’s something I need you to know, and it’s very important.” He let go enough to take both her hands in his and look her in the eye. She’s growing up too fast, as much as it pained him to admit it, she's becoming an adult. “Grace, there is nothing I want more in the world than to let you stay a little girl forever, and let you keep dreaming about fairytales and happily ever after, but I can’t. And I don’t want you to stop believing in those things, never, because they’re wonderful and they make life worth living; but there’s gonna come a time, sooner than I’d like, where you’re gonna have to learn how to dream with your eyes wide open. And when you do, you’re gonna meet someone who is gonna turn your whole world upside down. You’re gonna fall in love with them crazy, passionately, like nothing you’ve ever felt before. And the sad truth you’re gonna realize is that, that person may not be who you spend the rest of your life with. I mean, they could be, some people get lucky like that. But some people, for whatever reason, they just…don’t.”

“What do you do then?” Grace asked, the innocence of her voice tearing at his heart.

“You don’t let if define you. You take all that love and give it to the people who love you back, your family, your friends, all those good people in your life who make you happy. And you keep going, because that’s the kinda love that lasts forever. And if you have that, you’ll be ok.” 

Grace nodded, and buried face into his chest for another hug.

“I love you Monkey. So, so, very much. ” 

“I love you too Danno.” Grace whispered. “I always will.”

 

End.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm really not a fan of Amblissa. She's such a non-character and the fact that she wasn't in the waiting room with everyone during the season 6 finale is very telling about their (lack of) relationship. This is one of the ways I envisioned the writers just pulling the plug on her, while still getting some great Daddy Danno feels. (The best kind of feels).


End file.
